By The Seat Of My Chair

My Mom bought a chair....a rather ahem, ugly chair.

The lines of the chair are great! The price was even better, $3.00 at an estate sale.

But the upholstery.....feast your eyes on this.

And might I just say, it feels as nasty as it looks.

The chair was unstained and honestly very well taken care of. Probably never sat in because it was so ugly and itchy. 

Just sayin.

I grabbed my seam ripper and tore apart the seat cushion. I needed to do this for pattern making purposes.

I also like the cording around the edges but did not want to rip it all apart to retrieve the filler cord. I decided to buy new.

Said cord at a fabric store...5 bucks for 10 yards

Clothes line cord at wal-mart, 98 cents for 10 yards.

I cut 100 inch lengths of 2 inch wide coordinating fabric. 

Two lengths of it.

Sit at that sewing machine and sew the most un-glamorous job ever.

Dory was going through my head...."just keep sewing, just keep sewing".

Whew! Glad that is over!

Now for the fun stuff.....cut two pieces of fabric for the "seat" of the cushion using the old material as the pattern.

Now lay the cording on the edge of one of the pieces you just cut and sew onto the right side of your fabric.

When you come upon a corner, snip the fabric that is the seam side of the cording....being very careful NOT to cut your glamorous seem you worked so hard on.

Now repeat on the second seat fabric piece that you have.

Next I cut another strip of fabric 100 inches long but this time it is 6 inches wide.
This becomes your cushion depth, per the original cushion to allow for the old stuffing to be re-used.

You guessed it, sew right sides together, one at a time.

HOWEVER....I left the entire back of the cushion un-sewn to allow me to place the "stuffing" aka internal cushion inside of my new cushion cover.

Turn right sides out and stuff.

I did hand sew the seam in the back of the cushion but this was done while watching an extremely educational show on t.v.  (eat streets.....I HAVE to know these things for our next trip to Texas!!)

I love that I did not use the same material for the cording as I used for the actual cushion! I think it gives it a great look and is just quirky enough but not a "what were you thinking" kind of thought!

Next: onto the chair body....wish me luck!!

Throw Pillows

We had a snow day last week and I chose to use it to complete a few of those little projects that have been starring at me for hmmmm, months.

I am re-upholstering a chair and also making a couple of pillows for the chair.

This is how I made the pillows.

First, you need to know the size of the pillow insert, mine is 14 x 14.

I cut one square 15 x 15 to allow for 1/2 inch seams

The second was a rectangle 19 x 15

I cut the 19 inch length in half and ironed the edges 1/2 inch on each. Run a quick straight stitch seam on each of the ironed edges.

Now lay the cut "flaps" over the 15 inch square, overlapping the seamed edges all with right sides together to make a 15 inch square again.

Sew all four sides with a simple straight stitch. The opening is now the envelope flap in the center of the case.

Turn right side out and insert the pillow for thru the flap. 
I do it this way to enable the ability to remove the pillow when washing is needed.

I also wanted a round "bolster" type of pillow.

First I decided on the diameter size of the pillow. 
(see kids, you really DO use math after graduation!!!)

For me it was my salad plate. Cut 2

I decided on the length I wanted the pillow (12") and then needed to know how much material was needed to go around the pillow....this is going to get really complicated so stay with me here....

I extended my tape measure and rolled my plate along it to find the circumference of the plate. (again, see kids, you really DO use math after graduation!)

Still with me? Ok, good.

I cut a 13 inch wide, 29 inch long piece of material (yours will vary according to your plate size!) and sewed all the way along one of the circles using the 29 inch length.

Sew the other circle the very same way...all with right sides together.

To finish, sew a  straight seam across the 12 inch length leaving enough of an opening to stuff the pillow with fiber fill.

Once stuffed, I used a quick whip stitch to close the pillow and voile'!

Be careful not to over stuff your pillow of you will have "q-tip" ends...not pretty.

p.s. I know that I have shown how to make square pillows previously however a pretty pillow is always worth sharing again! And the bolster pillow is a new DIY for me. I hope you enjoy!

New Use For An Old Jelly Cabinet

We were in desperate need of storage in the extended bathroom since the hall linen closet was sacrificed for bedroom space.

A dear friend of mine had bought a home and in the basement the previous owners had left this antique jelly cabinet.

She offered it to me, I with enthusiasm said yes!

Fast forward some years and I have a new purpose for this cabinet!

However, after scrubbing the inside, I felt the need for a bit of color!

And out came the turquoise paint which I paled a bit with a few splashes of white.

Loved it, but felt it needed to be "antiqued" a smidge.

Walnut stain to the rescue!

Paper toweling and a light hand does the trick!

Simply rub the stain (in the direction of the longest area of the boards) onto the fully dried paint and then wipe off immediately, leaving the level of "antiquing" you desire!

The above photo shows well the stain.

And yes I do have a chandelier in my bathroom

Doesn't everyone?

No? 

Seriously????

I love my new storage cabinet and I am sure that it will very quickly fill up!

My Lamp Story

I bought the most amazing lamp two months ago.

It was originally $58 but I got it for the price of $14!!

The lamp base was made of "bubble glass", you know, that luscious glass with small bubbles in it that makes it look old and possibly nautical? 

Yes, that glass.

It was oblong with an oval shaped shade and was stunning.

Why am I speaking in past tense?

Because while I was working on my closet organizer, screwing in more shelving

It Fell.

To it's death.

Shattering into hundreds of pieces of glittering shards of bubble glass.

I cleaned it up and saved the electrical parts of it along with the shade.

Then I cried at the burial.

I was not really sure why I saved the parts, probably because I have been married for so many years and it is what my Hubby would do, so I did.

Wandering through our second home, Menards I spotted a large metal vase and of course it was on clearance so I snapped it up because it was the right size for a new lamp!

Oh yes, I did!

And this is how I did it.

Drilling a hole in the vase, not on the bottom as that would make the lamp unstable from the cord coming out of it.

I threaded the wiring through the newly drilled hole and up into the body of the vase.

Next some way to affix the "lamp" part of the old lamp to the new vase had to be figured out.

My husband decided that the only way to stabilize the top would be to drill through the neck of the vase and bolt it together.

I had a light bulb moment and thought of using rivets! 

I know, I am impressed too!

My hubby riveted it together.

I wired it, you know, electrical....yes I did!

And it works...without sparks or smoke!

And this is the masterpiece....not as pretty as the original...

However, it is large enough to work where I intend for it to go and

it is still a lamp worth having!